Forever Yours
by Anom
Summary: (Set after Crystania, summary insideAshram, released form the Realm of Chaos, returns to his body to find Pirotess waiting for him. Will they be able to go back to the way they were, or did 300 years make them realize they want something more from each o


For anyone who hasn't seen Legend of Crystania, it basically goes like this(I'm leaving out A LOT because I'm pretty sure no one cares much about the other characters); *ahem* Ashram and Pirotess have left with the people of Marmo to search for a land where they can live in peace. They come upon the land of Crystania, where ancient Gods were banished and made their homes, using the bodies of animals as their hosts. The Marman ships are denied entry, and sit outside Crystania for a while. Finally, seeing as how everyone is starving and dying, Ashram gets pissed and starts yelling at the Gods. One of them, Barbos, actually answers, and offers them the safety of Crystania in return for Ashram's body and soul. Being the wonderful leader he is, Ashram makes the sacrifice, and Barbos takes his body and banishes Ashram's soul to the Realm of Chaos. He remains there for 300 or so years.

Lots of other stuff happens, basically 'cause Barbos is an asshole and terrorizes Crystania and the other Gods because he has a human body and not an animal one, yadda yadda...but Pirotess spends those 300 years trying to find a way to save Ashram. She, with the help of a random group of adventures(who do have their own stories, which I'm not writing out) kills Barbos, saves Ashram, and the movie cuts off with Pirotess kneeling before Ashram's unconscious body. They don't even show Ashram waking up, which pissed me off. So I chose to write a short piece following the end of the fourth Crystania movie.  
  


****  
  


Three hundred years...  
  


It was a long time, even for an elf.  
  


Would he be the same person? Would they be able to go back to the way they once were?  
  


Pirotess clenched her fist, too scared to look up from where she knelt.   
  


She relived the time she had spent in the Realm of Chaos, the nightmares it had sent her of Ashram's suffering. He had been tormented, slaughtered again and again, his memories twisted and turned against him for three hundred years...  
  


Would he even remember her? That he was even alive was a miracle in itself, she couldn't reasonably expect more.  
  


Her eyes closed tighter, a few stray tears escaping, a sickening worry building in her chest as she heard him stir, the black armor grating against the stone as he moved.  
  


Long ago, she had been happy enough as his servant. It hadn't mattered that their feelings where left uncertain and unspoken, it had been enough to just be with him, at his side always. Now she wasn't so sure. She could still remember that moment in Chaos, where it had forced her to face what she truly felt for him.  
  


She could still feel the phantasmal embrace of what she had thought to be Ashram, she clung greedily to the memory of his voice softly whispering her name and the peaceful, complete bliss she had experienced moments before the deceitful illusion had been exposed.

  
  


"Pi..Pirotess...?"  
  


Her heart skipped a beat. He had spoken almost too soft for even her elven ears to catch. Swallowing, she forced words past her lump in her throat,  
  


"My Lord..."  
  


Still, she refused to look up. She heard him stand slowly, stiffly, obviously not yet used to having a physical body again. He grunted in pain quietly, covering the half-healed sword wound in his gut. Pirotess flinched inwardly, remembering all too well the horrific instant in which she herself had driven Soul Crusher into his body. Her own leg ached from a similar wound, brought on by the same weapon more recently.  
  


She could hear him approach, the armor's noise betraying his movements as it never had before. Ashram stood before her, barely believing what was happening. Pirotess chewed her lip, refusing to open her eyes, not daring to accept what was really happening.

"How long has it been?"  
  


"Three hundred years, My Lord." She answered softly, fighting to keep her voice from betraying the myriad of emotions his voice was awaking. Ashram dropped to his knees in front of her, too shocked to react. To have spent so long in another realm while his people were ravaged by a monster with his body...

He cursed himself inwardly for accepting Barbos' offer, for being too weak to reclaim his body and kingdom. He could remember defeating Barbos only minutes ago, but the victory seemed unreal now.

Pirotess tried to think of what to say, of what would be appropriate, of what he would want to hear.

"The people of Marmo have prospered here, My Lord, they still remember you as a hero, not as what Barbos used you for."

Ashram didn't answer. He was glad to hear that the people of Marmo had finally escaped their hardships, but he still could not calm his soul. He was still confused by what had happened the last few days, still shocked by Pirotess' undying loyalty.

He looked at her where she knelt, her gaze to the ground. She looked much as he remembered her, her flowing hair the color of honey-wheat, her skin like polished mahogany . . . But he couldn't see her face, could barely remember the beautiful features that had captivated him so long ago. Gently, hesitantly, he reached out, pulling face up to look at him. 

She opened her eyes to look into his. Gorgeous, deep purple eyes meeting eyes of steely grey,

"Why do you kneel, Pirotess?"

She answered nervously,

"It is my place, My Lord, to honor and serve you..."

The sadness in her voice as she spoke those words was not lost on the Black Knight. Truly, they stung at his heart. Pirotess was one of the few things he remembered clearly, and he had realized, somewhere in those hundreds of years, that he wanted her as more than a subordinate. She had ensnared him like no other ever could have, and in his moments of weakness within Chaos, he had held onto to the memories of her, protecting them savagely and deriving strength therein.

When he had awoken, it had seemed like a dream that Pirotess had been waiting for him. Now he was unsure. He could read nothing from her eyes aside from her still fresh amazement, and slowly he felt the fear that she did not return his feelings in full growing in his chest. There was real pain, the realization that he might have taken her for granted in their time together and lost something dear to him.

Pirotess saw the shift of his expressions, not quite as subtle as she remembered. She could see worry stamped all across his features, and she desperately wanted to know the cause. Had she said something wrong?   
  


"My Lor..."

Ashram winced as if he had been struck a physical blow, and Pirotess fell silent. Ashram looked away, closing his eyes and organizing his scattered thoughts. When he looked back to her, Pirotess was unnerved by the intensity with which he spoke,  
  


"Why did you save me? Why do I hold your loyalty so?"  
  


The Dark Elf was struck dumb, hurt that he even had to ask such a question. She almost refused to answer, so ridiculous the question seemed, surely he was aware of what she felt? Then she realized that was it; he wasn't sure. It seemed strange, The Black Knight being unsure of something, needing so desperately to know the answer.  
  


"Because..."

Pirotess found herself unwilling to confess, reluctant to finally lay her innermost feelings out. Ashram watched her face intently, studying her eyes for any sign of what she was trying to say. Gradually, her gaze softened. Pirotess stopped thinking about the question, and just savored the closeness of her Lord. Just to see his face again... Letting her guard down, all the weariness of the adventures just over seemed to catch up with the Dark Elf, and she no longer bothered to keep her expressions concealed.

A very soft, purely happy smile turned at the corner of her lips. She looked up at Ashram with half-lidded eyes, and, strangely enough, he also seemed to be letting down his guard. Her eyes told him what her voice could not; He had his answer. 

Ashram lowered his face to hers, his lips brushing cautiously against hers, as if asking permission. Pirotess felt her heart beating erratically as she hesitated for only a moment. Her disbelief faded instantaneously as she pushed forward to meet Ashram in a single kiss that finally laid to rest each others uncertainty. 

****

That's it for now. I'll most likely add a few more chapters on later, btu then I have to figure out

what the other characters names were, and I don't own any of the Crystania movies, so.....feh.  
  


Some of this feels rushed, other parts I'm very happy with. Overall, I guess it's ok.


End file.
